Running-board for cars.



I. S. DOWNING.

RUNNING BOARD FOR (JARS.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 9, 1912.

1,085,1 96, Patented Jan. 27, 1914.

WITNESSES: 2 I VENTOR.

W I BY m//W b Q M M A T ORNEY tive view of a portion of the footingplate or at the top of the car, showing the saddle in IRA SHANNONDOWNING, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO.

RUNNING-BOARD FOR CARS.

Specification of Letterslatent.

Patented Jan. 27, 1914.

' Application filed November 9. 1912. Serial No. 780,383.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRA S. DOWNING, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Running Boards for Cars,of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to running boards for the tops of freight cars andthe like, and has for its primary objects; the provision of a runningboard presenting an antislipping surface of a superior character; theprovision of a running board which will normally keep itself free of iceand snow; and the provision of a running board which will require littleattention or repair, which can be cheaply constructed, and which haslittle tendency to cause deterioration in the roof beneath it. Certainembodiments of the invention are" illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, w'herein I Figure 1 is a perspective view of a freight car withmy improved running board applied thereto; Fig. 2 is an enlargedperspecsheet employed; Fig. 3 is a plan View of one of the saddlesemployed; Fig. 4 is a section side elevation; Fig. 5 is a section on theline VV of Fig. 4 Fig. 6 is a section through a modified form of saddle,and Fig. 7 is a section through the saddle-employed where two sectionsof the running board are joined together end to-end.

Referring to the drawings, l is the car body; 2 is the car roof; 3 isone of the roof carlines (Fig. 4) to which the running board is securedas hereinafter explained; 4 is the footing plate or sheet of the runningboard;

- sagging.

5 and 6 are metal side strips to which the edges of the plate 4 aresecured; and 7 a're saddles lying beneath the plate 4 andsecured attheir ends to the side strips 5 and'6.

The footing plate 4 is of expanded metal, and preferably has its edges 8and 9 turned down and left solid as indicated in Fig. 2. The sheets 4are preferably used in lengths of about tenfeet, and the solid edges 8and 9 permit of a more secure attachment to the side strips 5 and 6 thanwould be the case if the sheet were expanded clear to its edges. Theattachment between the downturned edges 8 and 9 and the side strips 5and 6 is preferably secured by means of rivets. The expanded metal givesa very desirable footing, as expanded metal is so twisted in itsformation as to present a network of relatively sharp corners, thusgiving a first class antislipping surface. Furthermore the slight amountof give incident to expanded metal serves to make the footing moreSecure, thus differentiating from the ordinary metal footingssuch asgratings and the like, wherein the hard and yielding quality of themetal tends to cause unsteadiness and slipping, particularly in wetweather.

Spaced apart about twenty inches are the transverse saddles 7 shown indetail in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, such saddles being formed on their lowersides to fit the top of the car, and upon their upper sides engage andsupport the sheets 4. These saddles are preferably malleable castings ofthe cross section indicated in Fig. 5, the upper flange of the saddlebeing secured to the expanded metal sheet 4 by means of the bolts 10',and the end flanges (Fig. 4) being secured to the side strips 5 and 6 bymeans of the bolts 11. The I central portion of the saddle is recessedas indicated at 12, and in this recess fits the head of the securingbolt 13, such securing bolt extending down through the carline 3 asindicated in Fig. 4. Any other suitable fastening means might obviouslybe substituted in place of the securing means 10, 11, and 13. It will beseen that by securing the side edges 8 and 9. of the expanded metalsheet 4 to the strips 5 and 6, and by securing the sheet to the saddlesby means of the bolts 10, each rectangular section of expanded metalbounded by the strips and the saddles is maintained against sagging, sothat a lighter grade of sheet metal may be employed than if the metalhad to depend upon \its own stifi'ness'to prevent it from As indicatedin Fig. 4, the lower edges of the side strips 5 and 6 lie above the topof the car roof 2, thus providing a space to permit the passage of anywater or snow which otherwise might 'collect beneath the expanded metalfooting. 4. This arrangement not only prevents the filling up of thespace beneath the sheet 4 with snow, and the consequent spoiling of thefooting when this becomes a solid mass, but also tends to preventdeterioration in the roof beneath the running board due to the holdingof moisture. V

In Fi 6 is illustrated another form of saddle 7 such saddle in thisinstance being made in the form of 'a channel. This channel is securedat its ends to the side strips 5 and 6 by means of bolts as in the othertype of saddle, but issecured to the footing sheet 4 in a difi'erentmanner. The saddle is provided with a plurality of upstanding lugs 14adapted to project through the spaces in the footing, and theseprojections are subsequently bent over so as to clamp the sheet 4 to thesaddle.

- Fig. 7 illustrates the construction em'- ployed where one section ofthe running board is secured to another, the number of sectionsnecessary in order to form thecomplete running board depending of courseupon the length of the car. The means employed for connecting the twosections is a malleable casting 15 in the form of an inverted Y. The endedges of the footing sheets 4 are turned down as indicated in Fig. 6 andheld in place by means of the angles 16 clamped in position by means ofthe bolts 17.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use,'what I-claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the following.

1. In combination in a running board for cars, a pair of metal sidestrips, a plurality of metal saddles fitting the top of the car andsecured at their ends to the side strips, and a metal sheet having itsedges turned downward and solidand secured to the side strips, and itsmiddle portion expanded to fdrm an antislipping footing.

2. In combination in a running board for cars, a pair of metal sidestrips, a plurality of metal saddles fitting the top of the car andsecured at their ends to.'the side strips, a metal sheet having itsedges turned downward and solid and secured to the side strips, and itsmiddle portion expanded to form an antislipping footing, said saddleslying beneath and secured to the metal sheet and having their endssecured to the side strips.

3. In combination in a running boardfor cars, a footing sheet ofexpanded metal, a plurality of metal saddles spaced along the footing'sheet and extending transversely 7 thereof, and a pair of metal sidestrips secured to the edges of the footing sheet and to the edges of thesaddles, and having their lower edges lying above the lower edges of thesaddles at the ends thereof whereby a space is provided between the topof the car on which the running board is used and the "lower edges oftheside strips.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in'the presence ofthe two subscribed witnesses. J

IRA SHANNCN DOWNING.

Witnesses C. G. WALKER, W. K. DICKERSON.

